By your side
by yuri1713
Summary: Nico Robin never relied on anyone and only depended on herself throughout her whole life. Whats happens when a certain marimo offers her friendship and prehaps a little something more...ZoroxRobin
1. Prolouge

Notes: I'm not how this would turn out but...

=D

* * *

"1998, 1999....2000!"

A clatter was heard when the weight made contact with the gravel. He wiped the sweat of his face with his arm, sat down on a nearby rock and brought a bottle of beer to his lips. the rewarding taste of alcohol refreshed him and he made his way to his house....if you would even call it one.

The ramshackle structure was made up of pieces of metal held together by aging rust. In the summer it was unbearably hot and in the winter the draughts made their way through the cracks in the roofs and walls. On the edge of the far right corner were the only things valuable to him, three katanas propped against each other. All in all, it wasnt a very comfortable place to live in but the young man still had it better than most people in the town, majority who were either homeless or had a large family to support.

He was by himself, with nothing to keep him company apart from his far-fetched dream of becoming the greatest swordsman in the world, the thought that kept him going for these long years.

His name was Roronoa Zoro.

* * *

" _The poneglyphs were_- un fleur!" her quiet reading was interrupted as a single hand she grew out of a nearby tree pushed a man in his middle thirties out of his hiding spot.

" P-p-please h-have mercy on me, I was-s forced to....I have children-n and-d a w-wife to look after, I-" The man stuttered nervously. Of course, who wouldn't be afraid of her, she was a demon after all.

" Seis Fleur,"

" N-no....please" he begged.

" Clutch."

The grotesque sound was heard and the lifeless body thumped to the ground. She carefully closed her book and left without even sparing as much as a glance at the man she had killed.

Some would have called her a cruel, emotionless doll as not even to have felt the slightest pain when killing someone but in reality she had just become used to killing off spies who had caught her studying the Rio Poneglyph, a dream left behind from her mother.

It was getting dark and she figured she had better return to the temporary place she called "_home_." As she approached the small residence, she saw the white uniform of World Government officials through the window and instantly knew she had been betrayed...again. She spun around and walked off to the direction in which she came from and started running not even bothering to feel the anger from her betrayal. She had always knew she could never belong anywhere so over time she learned to rely on no one but herself.

Her name was Nico Robin

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And then one day, the boy meets the girl.

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I hope that wasn't too confusing. Dx


	2. Chapter one

**A/N:** Thank you to all reviewers!! This is the first real chapter.

**There's some things I would like to mention beforehand:**

- I decided to make Robin _younger_ and _shorter, _I know this would make it seem less realistic but in some point of the story Robin's height and age may cause a problem. D: Her new height is 172cm and her new age is 19 years old (same as Zoro). Her other features remain the same.

- Robin's past was still in Ohara but I changed her story a little bit. Please bear with me and it will be explained later on.

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**Chapter two**

_By your side_

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Robin set herself down and wrapped her arms around her knees. The breezes were picking up and she was starving, even though she had at least 500,000 beli with her from the prize money of a pirate she had turned in recently. It was lucky for her that the picture of her on her bounty poster was dated so therefore she would not be recognised as easily by the marines. Normally people with money wouldn't starve, but since no one would let Robin purchase anything from their store, stealing adn starving were the only options.

" Just a little longer." she said to stomach when it grumbled. Patting it as if reassuring it that it will soon be full. Finally the lights in the shops began it diminish and as soon as the street was dark she crept onto the dirt track, looking around she saw pieces of dirty cloth covering the goods which various stalls sold.

" Un fleur." she whispered and as soon as the words escaped from her lips a single arm grew out of the stall selling vegetables and fruit and pulled aside the material flung carelessly over what seemed to be fruits. She stared at the display of apples, oranges and an assortment of berries. She grabbed as must as she could and fled.

Suddenly an angry voice reached her ears.

" Hey, you...stop!!" a authorative man's voice yelled. Startled by the noise, she stumbled and tripped over her own feet, knocking the food out of her arms. Quickly she got up and turned around, facing the marine. The marine was a man in his late twenties, he had brown hair pulled up into a ponytail and his uniform didn't suggest he held a very high rank.

_" Damn, I can't believe a marine just happened to be patrolling this area. I thought people as high and mighty as them would never even think of stepping foot in a rathole like Kuragari."_ she thought trying to keep her cool.

The commontion woke up some of the shopkeepers who stumbled out of their makeshift homes sleepily.

" Whats going on here?" the man whose stall I stole from demanded.

" Hey isn't that the girl she chased out of this area earlier today?" another commented.

" What was her name......Nico Robin?" another said drowsily.

As soon as my name left the speakers mouth I saw a flash of fear mixed and suprise run through the marines eyes.

" Y-you'r Nico Robin?? The person who was considered as a demon and had a bounty of 79,000,000 beli as a child?" He said with awe lacing his voice.

" Well, no matter. If I capture you I'll definately move up a rank for sure." he said without waiting for me to reply to his earlier statement. Out of a pocket he brought out some files and flipped through them before coming across what he was looking for.

" Hmmm....yes, I definately need to request for a new picture of you to be put up on your bounty poster. But even if this picture was taken 9 years ago, I can still definately say that you are the one the World Government has been hunting down ever since the buster call in Ohara." Then he smirked evilly." Your a devil fruit useraren't you? Well then, your capture will be easy then."

I wasn't really listening to the marine's pointless blabbering and was concentrating on a way to escape without a fight which I then concluded was impossible as half the village woke up and was surrounding us to see what the commotion was about. It was obvious these dirty-minded people were hoping for a bloody show with the victory going to the brown-haaired man. But as soon as I heard him say the word "Ohara" and " Buster call" my attention immediately diverted to him.

" What...did you say?" I growled menancingly.

" What? Oh, that your capture will be easy."

" Before that!!" I drarwled out through clenched teeth.

His smirk widened.

" Oh that ever since the buster call in Oha-"

" Don't. say. that. word!!" I grounded out, merely hearing it traumatised me.

" Bringing back memories? Well, if you didn't exsist, the whole accident could have been avoided."

" Tres Flu-" her command was unfinished as her knees suddenly gave way and she collasped onto the ground. The feeling of her energy draining out of her became more apparent and her mind started to panic when the thought of the one weakness she shared with all other devil fruit users flashed through her mind.

".....seastone." I muttered weakly.

" Thats right." Before anything else could be proccessed through my mind, which was incredibly slow due to startvation today the marine was over at my side at with one action, he slid a pair of seastone handcuffs on my wrists. Naturally, i started struggling and futilely trying to break out of the handcuffs.

" Don't waste your energy. Its useless, today is the day where I bless the world by getting rid of you. " he said victoriously.

" Damn you," I spat, my scowl getting bigger when I made out the figures of other marines standing in perfect rows behind the brunette.

* * *

I wandered on the streets looking for a person with any chance of having a bounty. Not likely as the last pirate attack on this village was only a few days ago and ordinary citizens of this village aren't worth a single single beli. Noise made way to my ears and I felt a rush of excitment seep through me. The lights coming from Kuragari were making a great contrast to the otherwise eery darkness of the landscape. Taking advantage of the fact I was on a hill, I looked out to the sea and saw that there was a few marine ships anchored on the shore of Tengoku. Something definately happened, I ran towards Kuragari and hoped my lack of direction didn't lead me to....god knows where.

* * *

I finally arrived at my destination.

It was in the middle of the night but everyone seemed to be up. Men were gathered around something and I could see marines lined up behind this peculiar scene. Women held their children nervously, observing from a far-off distance while the old residents of Kuragari peeked at the scene from the safety of their homes. Cursing, I shoved my way into the center of the commotion. My eyebrows raised at the scene before me. A thin, young woman that looked about my age was kneeling on the ground glaring icily at a peculiar lookin marine officer. Her hands were binded in seastone handcuffs and the girl was letting herself get thrown random objects at. I also notcied a nasty wound on her stomach.

Why wasn't she fighting back?

The officer put his speakers towards his mouth.

" Orders sir?" he said expectantly.

I could feel the audiences anticipation.

" Pierre...kill her." a stoic voice commanded over the speakers.

Everything went silent as all eyes turned to the girl and 'Pierre'.

"Rodger." Pierre replied with a digusting bloodthirsty grin growing on his face.

The girls eyes flashed with anger and she let out a savage growl. I was suprised that such a noise could come from such a serene looking female. Phe officer trudged menacing towards the girl.

" Today, I will wipe your exsistence, you demon of Ohara!!" he exclaimed bringing his sword down on her, I was suprised to see that her indignant look didnt falter and that she didnt even cringe.

But I was more suprised to find myself in between the marine and the girl, with one end of Meitou in my grip and the other, blocking the attack of the officer from the girl.

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For those of you that dont know, _Meitou_is one of Zoro's former swords.

Sorry for OOCness and grammatical errors.

Please read and review!!


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